1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a printer capable of printing data received from a host computer on slip forms, validation forms and other different types of recording media and to its control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers capable of printing on a plurality of different types of cut sheet recording media (stock forms) such as slip forms including multilayer copy paper and standard thicker validation forms are used as POS printers. In the prior art, when a cut sheet form or recording medium was placed in the entrance of the paper path of these kinds of printers, the printer would generally detect it and then automatically feed the recording medium either immediately or after a predetermined time period and start printing.
However, even though the recording medium has been properly set in these kinds of printers, it either takes too long for it to be fed and printing to start, or the recording medium is fed and printing starts even if it has not been properly set. In the printers used in cash registers, the time it takes to properly set the recording medium will vary depending on the skill and experience of the operator, and therefore the time it takes for automatic feed to start after the recording medium has been set may seem long or short depending on the level of training. Moreover, the difficulty of setting the recording medium will vary depending on its size and thickness or the printing position, and therefore the suitable waiting time will vary depending on the type of recording medium.
Even regarding whether or not the recording medium has been inserted in the paper path; that is, the waiting time until the recording medium is inserted, if a maximum time is not established, the host computer will wait indefinitely until it receives information from the printer that the recording medium has been inserted, thus preventing operation from going smoothly and resulting in lost time.
Further, POS printers include printers with differing paper paths for slip forms, validation forms, etc. In this kind of printer, ease of handling will vary depending on the paper path, that is, on the type of printing medium, and the suitable time for waiting until insertion of the recording medium for each type of recording medium, that is, the wait time until the occurrence of insertion of the recording medium is confirmed, or for waiting until completion of setting of the recording medium, that is, the wait time until automatic feed starts after insertion of the recording medium, will vary, and these wait times will also vary depending on the level of training of the operator.